Slicing machine



' Aug. 16, 1949.

Filed Dec. 28, 1945 A. M. PETERS SLICING MACHINE 2 Sheets-Sheet l IN VEN TOR. ADOLF M. PETERS A 1949' A. M. PETERS 2,479,132

I SLICING MACHINE Filed Dec. 28, 1945 v 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. ADOLF. M. PETERS Patented Aug. 16, 1949 u N I TED STATE s PAT e NT oFF'l 1 2,479,182 smomo MACHINE. Mon-Mine s. can sprin on the Hudson, N; Y.

Application flecember 28, 1945, Serial; No.'637",609-

This invention relates to a slicing machine: and has particular reference to an improved meat slicing machine. I

Slicing machin'esare W611 known in the art. It has been a problem in such machines to provide a suitable stacker for catching the slices and stacking them in such a. manner that they fall and; he one upon the other Without folds or bends; particularly if the material to be sliced. is lacking rigidity, :as inthe case for example; with'thin slices: or meat; This factor is particularlyimportant. in slicing machines employed in retail establishmentawhere it is importantfrom amerchandising as Well as. from a, sanitary point. of view' to minimize the handling of the product Thus; if the material'as sliced can be transferred from: the slicing machine to the scale and then to the consumer without the necessity of. being touched :by the hand as in the arranging or smoothing on the part of the seller, the product is much more' acceptable: to the consumer It is the function of the present invention to provide such'a machine.

lt -is therefore an object of the present-invention to provide a slicing machine whereby the' sliced material is automatically deposited in slices in a smooth flat' condition. i

It: is a further'object of the present'invention to provide a slicing machine in which the various elements are so arranged as to most-conveniently permit the attainment of the above result.

It is a further obiect'of the presentinvention to provide-a slicing machine of the type above describedfin which the: sliced material may con veniently and in a sanitary manner he. removed from-the machine for whatever action may he desired.

It is still another-object or thepresent invert-' tion to provide in such a machine a, convenient means for weighing the slices as they are cut.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a machine of the type-described which 2 Claims. (Cl. '146- 102 is compact". simplyconstructed, and whichpre sents-a pleasing appearance;

To the accomplishment of the foregoing objects and such other objects as may hereinafter ap-'- pear, the present invention-resides in the novel structural arrangement Of'the components of the slicingmachine as *hereindescribed" and as de fined in the appended claims.

In thedrawingsz Fig. 1 is a =54; rear perspective view of'aslicine" machine embodying "the present invention with certain of the=partsshown 1in .pha'ntom ior' clarity-i 1 Fig: 2 is a rear detailed viewofthe-knifemounting means.

Fig. 3 isa front perspective View of the slicin machine with the stacker assembly shown in attached and removed positions.

Fig, l is: a side schematic; View of the holder and: stacker sub-assemblies, with certain other parts of. the machine shown in pliantomv tolindicate the relationship Of'thiSllbF-QJSSEIHUHBS closed to the: machine as a Whole;

Fig; 5 is: a perspective detail view ofthesllm port for the. guide plate. 1

6 is. a perspective view of a specific: embodiz' ment ofthe stacker assembly.

Referring now more detail to the drawings;

the embodiment of the slicing machine here? dis":

closed comprises av frame A on which is mounted a motor 3 adapted to drive a rotating knife-'0. Positioned onone side of. the knife is a holder D for holding. the material to be'sliced. Positioned on the other side of the knife opposite the holder is'a stacker E adapted to catch the slices as they fall fromthe knife C; As can best be seen-in Fig. 4, the. stacker E and the knife C are closeproxinrity to each other andare arranged at closely the same angle to the horizontal. The stacker Es'and'the holder D are connected together-loy connecting means F so that: the two may-be moved in unison'in the directionincli cated by the arrows in Fig. 1, thus causing the material to be sliced to be forced past the cut-= ting edge of the knife C; It is the abovedescribed relative arrangement of the holder D, the knife C and the stacker E Which causes the slices, as they drop from the: knife C, to fall upon the stacker E in a flat unwrinkled' manner. In order to permit freeand' unrestricted motion of theholder-D and-stacker E the knife C and-the motor B1 are'suppo-rtecl, as shall hereinafter be described in detail, from the holder side of the lmiffie' (Rfiso as to leave the stacker side of the knifeC free ofall' obstruction.

The frame A consists of two side plates 2- and connected'hy' a support rod 6, a guide redfl, an auxiliary rod is and a longitudinal plate I2.

The rods 6; 8, and lt are fastened to the side plates? ands hymeans-cr bolts M. The longitudinal plate. lZ' may he formed integral with the: Side plates 2 and t. Fastened to one end; plate t by means of bolts is is a motor-mounting I 8 which supports the motor 3 inv such a'man ner that the body of the motor is to the rear of the longitudinal plate l 2. I

The mounting .for the knife 0 is 'bestshown' imFigs; lxanda Fasteneci by -meansof:

20 to the rear of the plate I2 and adjacent to the end plate 4 is a knife support arm 22. At the end of the support arm is an aperture 24 in which is mounted a ballbearing 26 for the rotating knife C. The support arm is bent at 28 so that the knife is supported. at an angle with respect to the horizontal, which angle, in the embodiment illustrated, is approximately 45 but which may be at any desired. angle.

The knife C consists of an annular cutting edge 32 fastened by means of screws 34 and band 36 to the supporting wheel 38 which wheel is adapted to rotate with shaft 48 mounted in the bearing 26. The supporting wheel 38 is inwardly dished or hollowed, as shown in Fig. 2, so that the front surface of the support 22 'is in a plane below the plane of the cutting edge 32. On the front of the supporting wheel 38 is a pulley 42 concentric with shaft 40. On the front end of the shaft 29 of the motor B is attached a pulley 30. The knife and motor B are so mounted on their respective supports that the pulleys 38 and 42 are located in substantially the same plane and are connected together by means of a driving belt 44 so that rotation of the motor B will rotate the cutting edge 32 of the knife C. For purposes of cleanliness and appearance the upper end of the knife support arm 22 and the bearing 26 as well as the inner portion of the support wheel 38 may be covered by a removable cover 46 attached by means of screws 48 cooperating with screw holes 58 in the upper end of the knife support arm 22. This cover is out out, as at 52, in order to provide space for the knife support 22 to pass beneath the cover 46 and into the dished or hollowed portion of the wheel 38. From the arrangement of the parts as thus far described it should be apparent that the front side of the knife C is free of all interferences except for that presented by the pulleys 30 and 42; those pulleys would only extend an inch or so beyond the knife surface. For aesthetic as well as sanitary reasons pulleys 30 and 42 and belt 44 are customarily covered. For clarity of explanation, and since this cover comprises no part of the present invention, it has not been shown in the drawings.

Also mounted on the plate I2 but near the side plate 2 is the guide plate 54. Its mounting is effected in the following manner: Attached by means of bolts 56 to the plate I2 is a support arm 58, best shown in Figs. 1 and 5. This arm is bent at 68 and 62. In the end of this arm is a bolt 64. Mounted slidably 0n ths same portion of the support arm is an extension 66 of the guide plate 54. In this extension is an elongated slot 68 through which the bolt 64 passes. The guide plate 54 is so positioned with respect to its extension 68 that the plane of its flat surface is substantially parallel to the plane of the cutting edge 32 of the knife 0. As can best be seen in Fig. 5, the guide plate 54 is cut out at III to conform to the shape of the cutting edge 32 of the knife C so that it may be moved past said cutting edge in a direction perpendicular to the plane thereof. The purpose of this adjusable method of mounting is to permit the operator of the machine to vary at will the thickness of the slices cut by the machine. As will be seen, the material to be sliced moves along the guide plate 54 in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 5, and the distance the guide plate 54 is below the cutting edge 32 of the knife C will determine the thickness of the slice.

Slidably movable on the support rod 6 is a sleeve 12. Integral with this sleeve is a substantially vertical arm 14 which carries at its free extremity an angle support 16. To this angle support is fastened, as for example by welding, a holder D for the material to be sliced which is composed of two sides 18 and 88 between which the material to be sliced may be placed. Also integral with the sleeve I2 is a tongue 82 which bears against the guide rod 8 thus preventing rotation of the sleeve and attached members in a counterclockwise direction as viewed from side plate 2. Projecting horizontally from the sleeve 12 below the support rod 6 is the connecting means F connecting the holder D and the stacker E. The connecting means in the embodiment illus- 'trated (see particularly Fig. 4) consists of a horizontal bar which terminates at its extremity in a hollow sleeve 86. The bar 84 and sleeve 86 are clamped by means of a. clamp 88 to the auxiliary rod III. Both the clamp 88 and the sleeve 12 will permit sliding motion over the auxiliary rod III and the support rod 6 in the di rection of the axes thereof, as indicated by the arrows in Figs. 1 and 3. The clamp 88 around the auxiliary rod I0 prevents the holder and its supports from rotating about the support rod 6 in a clockwise direction as viewed from side plate 2.

The stacker assembly E may consist of a stacker plate 98 mounted, as for example by welding, onto a support 92. One end of support 92 is adapted to be removably slidable into the sleeve 86. The support is bent at 94 and 96 so that when the support 92 is inserted into the sleeve 86 the stacker plate will be in close proximity to the knife and both the knife and the stacker plate will be arranged at closely the same angle to the horizontal. This may best be seen in Fig. 4. In order to limit motion of the stacker and holder in the direction toward end plate 2 a stop finger 98 projects backwardly from the guide plate support 58 into the path of the tongue 82. Thus, as the tongue 82 along with the holder D and the stacker E move toward side plate 2, the tongue 82, will, at a pre-determined point, contact the stop finger 98 and further motion in that direction will be prevented.

A table surface I88 may be placed over the auxiliary rod I0 and those parts of the end plates 2 and 4 which lie to the front of the knife support 22.

Fig. 6 discloses a second embodiment of the stacker assembly. In it a stacker plate 90 is mounted on a vertical intermediate support I02 which intermediate support is spring-mounted by means of spring I84 in the support body I06. The mounting method shown in Fig. 6 is that of a conventional type of spring-scale particularly used for determining weight of small packages to be mailed. The support body I06 is fastened to the support arm 92, the lower end of which is adapted to be slidably and removably receivable into the sleeve 86. The amount of vertical movement of the stacker plate 90 is indicated on a visible scale I88 on the support body I06 by means of an arrow I I0 attached to an arm I I2, the other end of which arm is attached to the intermediate support III2. The scale I08 may be calibrated with the spring I04 in order to indicate the vertical motion of the stacker plate 90 in terms of the weight of the slices deposited on said stacker plate.

In the operation of the machinejthe holder D may be moved toward the side plate 2 until the tongue 82 contacts the stop finger 98 and prevents further motion in that direction. The material to be sliced is then placed in the holder D between sides 16 and 80 with the surface to be sliced resting on the guide plate 54. The guide plate is adjusted with respect to the cutting edge 32 of the knife C, by means of the elongated slot 68 and the bolt 64, for the thickness of slice desired. The lower end of the stacker support 92 is inserted into the sleeve 86, the motor is started and its rotation is communicated by means of belt 44 to the knife C. While the knife is rotating, the holder support arm 14 is moved toward end plate 4, thus carrying the material to be sliced across the cutting edge 32 of the knife C.

Because the stacker E is attached to the holder D by the connecting means F, the stacker and holder move in unison. As the material is sliced, the slice falls from the underside of the knife C onto the stacker plate QB. Because the stacker plate is located in close proximity to the knife, and at closely the same angle to the horizontal as the knife, and because the stacker plate 90 moves in unison with the material to be sliced maintained in holder D, the slice falls upon the stacker plate 99 in smooth unfolded fashion. After a sufficient number of slices have been cut, the stacker E may be conveniently disengaged from the holder D by sliding the lower part of the stacker support 92 out of the sleeve 86. The slices on the stacker plate 96 may thus be transferred to, for example a scale, where the slices may be dumped onto the scale platform and weighed without the necessity of their being touched in any way either to smooth them for proper wrapping or to transfer them from slicer to scale.

Free and unrestricted motion of the stacker E through the complete travel of the holder D is permitted by the novel mounting means above described wherein all mounting members are located on the holder side of the knife.

In the stacker embodiment shown in Fig. 6 the spring-mounting permits vertical movement of the stacker plate 90 as slices are deposited thereon, thus automatically leaving space between the last slice and the knife C for the next slice, and at the same time indicating on the scale I08 the approximate weight of the slices already cut, thus guiding the slicer in cutting the proper number of slices for a given weight order.

If the material to be sliced is of such a consistency that folds or unevenness will not obtain in the slices thereof (e. g. bread), or if thick slices on the order of one-half inch thickness are desired, the stacker E may be dispensed with by slidably disengaging it from the sleeve 86. The slices will then fall from the knife onto the table I00.

It will be apparent that while I have disclosed a preferred embodiment of the invention, changes may be made in the structure, and particularly in the positioning of the stacker E with respect to the knife C, without departing from the spirit of the invention definedin the following claims. Thus, the angle between the stacker E and the knife C, and the elevation of the stacker E above the table I00 may be varied from the precise position disclosed in the drawing to conform to the characteristics of the material to be sliced and the thickness and number of slices desired.

I claim:

1. A slicing machine comprising a frame, a slicing knife, a holder for material to be sliced positioned on one side of said knife, a stacker for the sliced material positioned opposite the holder on the other side of the knife, a motor mounted on the frame and positioned on the holder side of the knife, said slicing knife being circular and having a central inwardly dished portion on the holder side thereof, a shaft with which said knife rotates, a support for said knife comprising an arm fastened at one end to the frame and carrying at its other end a bearing for the shaft of the knife, the bearing end of said arm bein positioned within the inwardly dished portion of said knife and extending therealong and being connected to the fastened end of said arm by means of a bent portion conforming to the dished portion of said knife, said arm thereby supporting the knife from its top side at a fixed angle to the horizontal, whereby the stacker side of the, knife is free of the motor and knife mounts, and means connecting the motor to said knife to rotate the latter.

2. A slicing machine comprising a frame, a slicing knife, supporting means therefor, a motor, supporting means therefor, means connecting said motor with said knife to operate the latter, a holder for material-to be sliced positioned above said knife, a horizontal stationary slice receiving table positioned below said knife, a stacker assembly comprising a stacker plate for the sliced material and a support therefor positioned opposite the holder below said knife, said stacker plate being positioned between said knife and said horizontal table, said stacker plate and said knife being in close proximity to each other and each being arranged at closely the same angle to the horizontal and retaining the same angular relationship at all times, and a slidingly disengageable attachment for said stacker plate support and said holder positioned beneath said slice receiving table, whereby said stacker plate and said holder are movable in unison past the cutting edge of the knife, either said stacker plate or said slice receiving table may be employed for recieving the slices, and the area between said knife and said slice receiving table is free of obstruction.

ADOLF M. PETERS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 7 Number Name Date 852,964 Koegel May '7, 1907 1,231,960 Stiles July 3, 1917 1,807,313 Hines May 26, 1931 1,818,245 Folk Aug. 11, 1931 1,929,543 Van HOOI'H Oct, 10, 1933 2,224,557 Van Berkel Dec. 10, 1940 5 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 532,940 Great Britain Feb. 4, 1941 

